back home!

Hey all-

After a long and very exhausting travel experience I am home and glad of it. My traveling went smoothly for the most part, I caught a 2am train out of Meknes on Saturday morning and was able to get a few hours of sleep on the 5 hour trip up to Tangiers. From there I caught the 9a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain and got there at one in the afternoon with the 2 hour time difference. There I took a bus to Al-Gheciras and my travel buddy- a roommate from the ISA group- went our seperate ways. I took the bus to Malaga which took about 2.5 hours and got to the airport at about 5. My flight was not until 11a the following day but I was too cheap to pay for a room for the night so I stayed in the airport. For 18 hours! It was alright- the time went quickly- but when I tried fall asleep I began to regret my decision. I just couldn't get comfortable, but I made it through.
9a Sunday morning I went through security to catch my 11a flight to London, from there to Chicago, and then finally to Minneapolis. I got in around 11:30 at night - a full 52 hours, with time changes, after I set out from Meknes. I had a surprise waiting for me at the airport- 7 of my close friends and roommates came to welcome me, and I had one more waiting for me at home! It was so good to see so many people excited to have me back!

Well this will be my final post now that I'm back. Although the semester has had its down moments I am glad I had the experience. I don't know that I'd do it again, but I did learn alot while I was there. I learned alot about myself and became more sure of the person that I am. I'm glad that I chose a program that was a risk, not going somewhere "safe" and normal like England or Australia. Programs like that, excepting a few cases, seem too similar to home- like its a vacation rather than a learning expereince.
A community, to me, makes or breaks an experience, and I was spoiled by my roommates and environment at Bethel. My experience was less than it could have been because of the other students, excepting a few. I did become close with one of my roommates, and I'm glad that she was there to keep me sane!
I did enjoy most of my experience though. The last few weeks I met some Moroccan students that were really cool, and I wish that I had met them earlier in the semester! My professors made the experience memorable, if somewhat frusterating at times. I will miss many things about Morocco and its culture; I keep catching myself about to utter "Insha'llah" everytime someone talks about the future, ( Insha'llah is the Moroccan custom of saying "If God wills", and sometimes a handy exit strategy!) or the Arabic for thankyou, good morning or hello. It will take a bit to get readjusted to my life here, but I'm so glad to be home!
I'm working on getting pictures organized. Hopefully I will have some available when I run into you- at family gatherings or other visits. I want to thank you for your continued prayers this semester, and your following along through my blog and updates. Hopefully I will see you soon!

Im also putting in the next thread my paper that I wrote for one of my courses, as a reflection on a certain aspect of my experience.